Why is hot water suddenly coming out too soon?

Last night about 12:30 AM, I went to use the hot water at my vanity. Usually it taks 15-20 seconds to get the water hot. Last night it was instant! At 6:30 AM today, same thing! It does not happen at any other faucets nor has it happened before! What is going on?

Sounds like there may be a slow leak somewhere near the faucet and it is keeping hot water in the line near the valve so that when you open it you get instant hot water. If you don't have a drip in the faucet I would check within a couple of feet of the valve for a leak. If you can't find it and there are no wet spots monitor your water use to see if you have a leak at all and if you do you may need to call a plumber if you are not well versed at tracking down issues like this. Good luck.

I second the drip idea...instant hot water is good thing for most folks. I'm lucky in that my mechanical room is directly below the master bath..turning on the shower an we get hot water is 2-3 seconds. Which makes sense since the top of the hot water tank is only 4-5 feet below the valves.

Hubby went under house and everything is dry...even to the point of being "dusty" he said. He particularly checked around the hot water heater and the line between the heater and the faucet in question...no leak found. He went out to the meter, took off the cover and it was not running. I have 3 sinks near each other....2 get hot immediately and the third one takes almost 20 seconds....? And the faucets are not dripping.

Thanks for all the suggestions, but the water is not doing this except in one area? It is normally cool for about 20 seconds in the rest of the house. And this has never happened before! We have a great plummer and I will call him Monday.

Well, it's about that time. They only last about 7-10 years anyway! The instant hot water was first noticed as I was preparing to go to bed late after watching olympics opening...12:30 AM but late last night it was back to taking 20 seconds to get hot...??? So it is a wait and see game!

The last water heater I replaced was 15 years old and was not giving us any trouble at all. I just knew it was getting to be about that time so I had it swapped out. The guy that did the work told me that it was full of sediment. So if you think your water heater is the problem why wait until you have some major issue, just replace it. Leaving a bit longer could be more costly than just getting rid of it and putting in a new one.

I agree with Paul. Better to be safe than sorry! We waited too long to replace a water heater we knew was going down hill fast and last January we had to replace ALL of our laminate flooring and the drywall around the water heater because the water heater supply line failed and flooded the living room and kitchen! Don't wait until you have a problem! Best of luck to you Jeanette!

Thanks Tina, we are lucky because our water heater is under the house in the crawl space...we live on a hill in Atlanta that would have been perfect for a basement, but unfortunately they did not put one in. But it is good that it provided a place to put the hot water heater.

Water damage is one of the leading "big ticket" repairs in a home. It is either a slow drip that leads to rotten sub floors and mold issues...to a catastrophic flood than can lead to near gut type restorations. Ah the joy of indoor plumbing...